By Miriam Raftery

Photos: Demonstrators protest on both sides of the affirmative action issue; cc-nc-nd

June 29,2023 (Washington D.C.)—Public colleges nationwide, as well as private colleges that accept federal funds, can no longer consider race  in the admissions process, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today.

In a 6-3 decision split down ideological lines, the conservative majority found affirmative action to be an unconstitutional violation of the 14^th Amendment, which assures equal protection for all Americans.

The court broke with its own precedent set 45 years ago, when justices found that a limited exception to the 14^th Amendment was acceptable for school admissions to counter the impacts of racial discrimination.

Locally and nationally, the ruling prompted strong reactions.

May 7, 2012 (San Diego) -- Richard C. Atkinson, who served as chancellor of the University of California, San Diego for15 years, was barely four weeks into his tenure as president of the University of California system when the UC Regents voted to end affirmative action in August 1995.

How he dealt with the admissions wars—the political, legal and academic consequences of that historic and controversial decision, as well as the issue of governance—is discussed in a new book by Patricia Pelfrey recently released by the University of California Press entitled The Entrepreneurial President: Richard Atkinson and the University of California, 1995-2003.